Maple Bourbon Pumpkin Pie #PieWeek

With an infusion of maple and bourbon, and a rich chocolate crust, this pumpkin pie is bound to be a holiday favorite!

The.Boy and I are making great strides towards ridding ourselves of our trust issues.

Like, for instance, last weekend when he allowed me to bring a blowtorch into our apartment.

And use it. Within a three foot radius of him.

Let’s just say that was probably the most tense five minutes of our relationship. Possibly of our lives. Hopefully ever again. Fingers crossed.

But I had seen bruleed pie crust in exactly THREE THANKSGIVING FOOD MAGAZINES.

And the way I feel about crispy crunchy caramelized sugar atop a custardy interior is like what a moth feels about a flame.

In short.

I had to have them. And I was not about to take, “But babe, I really don’t think intentionally creating a fire in our apartment is a good idea” for an answer.

A little clickety click on Amazon while his back was turned (so much for honesty) and my adorable little flame thrower arrived two days later. Fueled for action. (Uh, not literally. I had to buy a canister of butane to go with it.)

So bruleeing away I went, while the.boy stood a few arms length back with a fire extinguisher. Just in case.

A little sprinkle of sugar, a little bit of the hot stuff, and there it was. The crispy crunchy caramelized sugar exterior of my dreams.

Except…then I waited for dessert time to actually serve it and it had kind of re-melted and soaked into the filling of the pie so that you couldn’t tell it had ever been set on fire. UGH.

But yum. Because it was delicious anyway. Filled with the perfect pairing of maple and bourbon, a hint of tang from the yogurt, and ALL THE FALL THINGS. Surrounded by a chocolate crust. You just can’t go wrong.

I NEVER believe in skipping the caramelized sugar, but skip the caramelized sugar and all the stress that comes with it. Trust.

Guys! It’s still #PieWeek! Which means we have another AWESOME giveaway for you, along with a whole SLEW of ridiculously fabulous pies. Here goes. Today’s giveaway is one of my favorites because it involves the maker of some of my favorite kitchen tools – OXO – AND the brand that I will probably devote most of my wedding registry to – Le Creuset! See below for how to enter!!

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With an infusion of maple and bourbon, and a rich chocolate crust, this pumpkin pie is bound to be a holiday favorite!

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

For the chocolate pie dough

¼ cup plus 1 tbsp Dutch process unsweetened cocoa powder

3½ tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1¼ cups plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour

8 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

1 large egg yolk

½ tsp apple cider vinegar

For the pie

4 large eggs

15 oz canned pumpkin puree

¼ cup greek yogurt

2 tbsp bourbon

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp nutmeg

¾ cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

Instructions

For the pie dough, pulse the cocoa powder, sugar, salt and flour in a food processor to combine them. Add the butter to the processor and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse, wet sand.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, vinegar, and ¼ cup ice water. Drizzle into the food processor and pulse until mixture starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 1-inch thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour but up to 48 hours.

When ready to bake the pie, roll out the pie dough on a lightly floured work surface to a 14-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate. Trim so that there is about a 1-inch overhang, folding the overhang under the pie and crimping, if desired. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line the pie with parchment paper and fill with dried beans. Bake until the crust is dry around the edges, about 20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment paper and bake for 5 minutes more, or until crust looks dry. Brush the bottom and sides of the crust with a beaten egg. Return to the oven and bake for 3 minutes. Set aside while you make the filling.

In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, greek yogurt, bourbon, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Whisk in the remaining 3 eggs. Set aside.

Pour the maple syrup into a small saucepan, along with the vanilla. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and slowly stir in the cream, stirring until smooth. Slowly whisk the hot maple cream into the pumpkin mixture.

Place the pie dish on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pour in the filling. Bake the pie, rotating halfway through, until it is set around the edges but the center barely jiggles, 50-60 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

So I’ve been searching everywhere this week for the PERFECT pumpkin pie. I didn’t want traditional, and I wanted a little chocolate, but not too much. I wasn’t having any luck and was about to give up and go my usual traditional route…but then you posted this. And I am eternally grateful. I’m making this for Thanksgiving!!! (Thank you!!) <3

A small blow torch is one of those things I want but don’t want to spend the money on because I’ll probably use it once a year. I’m not sure it’s worth it. Your pie looks awesome and though you have mixed feelings about the whole blow torch experience, I’m betting you will find many more delicious uses for it in the future.

BRULEE PIE?! Joanne, will you dump your BF and marry me? I have never been more excited and have so much anxiety to see a pie before! I know I can never make something like this but hopefully I stumbled in a bakery soon and they happen to have something similar. Xxxx

This looks so decadent! I’ve been seeing all those bruleed pies too. Definitely wait to brûlée until it’s time to serve, or re-sprinkle sugar on top and re-brulee. When I worked at Flour, we used a propane torch and I keep wanting to buy one for my kitchen. One of these days!

I’ve been dying to make one of these bruleed pies since they became all the rage for Thanksgiving, but I’ve yet to find the time. So glad you tested this one out! It sounds amazing, and is a strong contender for my Thanksgiving day contribution!

I’ve had a little flame thrower (hahaha, I will always call it that from now on) in my cart forever too, but I keep putting it off. Where do you actually buy the butane at? I think I would buy the torch and then never figure out how to fill it with butane. I’m easily confused, obviously.

I own a torch – but it is not all that scary… perhaps because I’ve never used it. I have lofty intentions though… can’t wait to try it on a pie… and Oh my, here I am at the end of pie week and no pie to show for it. I must make amends tomorrow… stay tuned.

My husbands all time favorite dessert is creme brulee. Not sure why (given how clumsy I am), he isn’t afraid of me with a blow torch in the kitchen. I have not seen it on a pie though – need to try it!

Awesome that you got the flame thrower torch. We use MAPP gas torches to light the coal in our Eggs (20 seconds a spot x 3 spots) and once when I was making creme brulee I tried using the MAPP torch (burns at 3,600 degrees) instead of a culinary torch. Let’s just say there was plenty of caramelization power, ha ha.

I really liked the chocolate crust (as did my boyfriend and my friends who we ate it with) and feel like it adds a nice twist. That being said, it was a bit of a pain to work with so if you wanted to go with a favorite pie crust that you know is easy to roll out or even a graham cracker crust (maybe a chocolate graham cracker crust?!), it would still be delicious.